Is it the camera that makes the film, or the film that makes the camera? Either way, when we’re talking about medium format film, the process of composing square shots is entirely different depending on the camera.

Shooting medium format with a twin-lens reflex camera like the Yashica or the Rolleiflex is meditative, slow and careful, and goes something like this: Compose. Breathe in. Re-compose. Click. Breathe out. medium-yashica-2
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Put medium format film in a toy camera like the Diana, and you get a fun photographic process with a touch of randomness. Shooting with a toy camera is unpredictable and suspenseful. You have to wait until you see the developed images in order to discover those signature light leaks, crooked horizons and cut-off corners. Point, shoot, promise to sacrifice a roll of film to the trickster god of photography (to minimise the light leaks). Repeat. medium-diana-2
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So which do I prefer? All of them. Each camera has its own time, mood and season, and I love them all. And I especially love what ties them together – the square format.

~ All the best from Jenny.